


Better Things

by bitboozy



Series: Domesticated [36]
Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Family, Gen, Post-Series, Romance, This is a love story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:08:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22336060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitboozy/pseuds/bitboozy
Summary: Ellie tries to get Alec to be a little more adventurous while they weigh the possibility of their tandem job promotions.
Relationships: Alec Hardy/Ellie Miller
Series: Domesticated [36]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550554
Comments: 65
Kudos: 137





	1. Chapter 1

“Hi, Dad.”

Alec approaches Daisy, sitting at the kitchen table, and kisses the top of her head. “Hey, darlin’. How was your day then?”

Daisy lets out a melodramatic sigh. “Boring. As per usual. Jade was out sick though so it was proper excruciating.”

“A whole day apart, the horror.” He opens the fridge and pulls out the leftovers Ellie had texted him about. “However did you manage?”

“Hey, come on,” Daisy complains. “Imagine a whole day without Ellie.”

He pauses, blinks, and wonders when was the last time he _had_ a whole day without Ellie. Been at least a year, he reckons. He shakes his head and pops the leftovers into the microwave. “How many times have I asked you not to compare your relationships to mine?”

“Not really fair, you know. And a bit of a cop out.”

“I think it’s plenty fair. Relationships when you’re seventeen…not speakin’ against them, but they’re not the same,” Alec argues.

“Jade could be my Ellie though,” Daisy retorts, challenging him. “What of that?”

“If Jade’s your Ellie, you’ll have to let me know in three or four years. Or better yet when you’re forty-eight.”

Daisy props her feet up on the chair next to hers and fixes him with a curious glare. “You’re awfully superior about relationships for a man with a divorce under his belt.”

Alec raises an eyebrow back at her then turns to the microwave when it beeps.

“Not like you and El have the perfect relationship, there’s no such thing,” she continues.

“I would never claim otherwise.” He sits down across from her at the table with his reheated meal and begins picking at it. “What on earth _is_ this even?”

Daisy snorts. “She called it lasagna. But I dunno honestly.”

Alec shrugs and takes in a mouthful. He grimaces. “Bloody awful.”

“I know.”

He gets up and tosses the so-called lasagna in the bin. “Where is everyone anyhow?”

“Little ones asleep. Tom still at the _Echo_ I think. El’s upstairs.”

He grabs an apple out of the fruit bowl then heads for the door. “Gonna head up myself. Don’t stay up too late."

“Night, Dad.”

Alec takes a bite out of his apple then stops at the bottom of the stairs. There’s a faint noise wafting down that is odd yet familiar. He walks slowly upward, listening intently. Their bedroom is closed, unusual for when only one of them is inside it. He listens outside the door and oh…he knows those noises _far_ too well. Only he’s never been this far away from them.

He opens the door. Ellie is under the covers, knees bent, head thrown back, gasping. A faint buzzing underneath the sheets. He closes the door behind him and only then does she look up, and the buzzing halts. She is flushed, eyes wide, caught.

“Oh, hi, love,” she says breathlessly, too high-pitched.

He’s shaking his head at her. “Unbelievable.”

“I --- it was. I just – ummmm.”

He pushes his shoes off and heads toward the loo. “Takin’ a shower.”

Then he closes the door to the loo. Something they almost never do. Inside, he divests himself of his clothing and turns on the hot water. When he steps inside, he can hear Ellie again. She’s turned the damn thing back on. As he stands underneath the hot shower, he looks down and finds he’s hard now. Just bloody listening to her. He hears her come and he can’t get over how bizarre it is to hear it from afar. To not be the cause of it. He takes himself in hand at the sound and strokes himself frantically until he comes too.

“ _Fuck_.”

He can’t remember the last time he got himself off in the shower. There’s something delightfully adolescent about it.

Wrapped in a towel, he steps back into the bedroom, where Ellie is now contentedly reading her book with a drowsy smile on her face.

She looks up at him. “Have a nice wank?”

He stops and stares at her. Then goes about changing into his pyjamas.

“Don’t be grumpy.”

“’m not grumpy,” he retorts grumpily.

“There’s nothing wrong with either of us having ourselves a good wank now and then, love.” She closes her book and places it on the nightstand.

He sits on the edge of his side of the bed, his back to her. “I know that.”

“ _Do_ you?”

Alec rubs the back of his neck. “Who were you thinkin’ of.”

Ellie hesitates just slightly. “Well I’d been watching _Luther_.”

He turns to look at her in disgust. “You were thinkin’ of _Idris Elba_?!”

She refuses to indulge his immaturity. “Get into bed please."

Grudgingly, he pulls back the covers and crawls underneath. She turns on her side to face him.

“You are a beautiful, handsome, incredibly sexy man, Alec Hardy,” she says sincerely. “And so is Idris Elba.”

He groans and switches off his lamp. Smiling to herself, she switches off hers. He lies with his back to her and she kisses his shoulder.

“I love you.”

He grunts.

*

The next night after the little ones have gone to bed, Alec and Ellie are thrilled to curl up together on the couch with a bottle of wine. He puts on his favorite Kinks record and once they clink glasses, she lifts her feet up and places them in his lap. He rubs a foot with one hand and kicks his own feet up onto the coffee table. They both exhale, thoroughly content and relaxed.

“Can you believe we have a five-month-old baby?” Ellie asks, somewhat wistfully, somewhat truly astonished.

Today is Aila’s five-month birthday, which is of little interest to anyone but them.

“No. No, I cannot.” He takes a sip of his wine. “Can you believe she already sleeps more than four hours at a time?”

“Nope.” She shakes her head emphatically. “No, I cannot.”

They clink glasses again.

“Knackered all the bloody time, just like us,” she adds.

“Not sure exhaustion is genetic.”

“Evidence to the contrary, _sir_.” She smirks at him. “Did Fred tell you his latest goal in life?”

“Somethin’ newer than lorrie driver?” He pushes his fingers into the arch of her foot.

“ _Donut maker_.”

Alec blinks at her.

“Not baker even. _Donut maker_ ,” she explains. “I said, _sure, cakes and things, yeah?_ And he said no. Just donuts.”

Alec chuckles into his wine glass as he takes another sip. “Tryin’ to fatten us up, that one is.”

Ellie glances down at herself and sighs. “Don’t need much help, me.”

He scoffs at her. “ _Please_.” Then he pinches her hip and she lets out a squeak.

She bends her knees and scoots in closer to him and give him a kiss. “So.”

He looks back at her dubiously. “So…”

“I think we have a conversation coming to us.”

He stiffens a bit. He’s been putting off talking to her about Jenkinson’s offer. He should have guessed she’d have found out another way.

“About our sex life.”

He nearly drops his wine glass. “ _What_?”

“ _Love_ ,” she says sympathetically. “It’s good for us to talk about it, you know.”

“Talk about _what_ exactly?” He is full on grimacing at her.

She waves her hand noncommittally. “What’s working, what isn’t – “

He sits up straight. “What isn’t working?!”

“Nothing, no, nothing in _particular_ , just…good for us to check in.”

He leans forward and puts his wine glass down on the coffee table. “You’ve got somethin’ to say then say it.”

She frowns at him. “ _Alec_.”

“What? You’re obviously unsatisfied in some way, so let’s have at it.”

Her face falls, then lights up again with recognition. “ _Oh_ , you’re referring to last night, aren’t you? That’s not what this is about.”

“So it’s somethin’ _else_ then, somethin’ _else_ has got you unsatisfied – “

“Stop it.” She grabs his chin in one hand and forces him to look at her. “You’re going mad on me. _Listen_. We’ve been through a lot in the last several months. In the last year and a half, frankly, and I just think sometimes it’s good to…slow things down and _talk_.”

“Fine.” He reaches for his wine glass again and takes a long sip. “Talk.”

She’s glaring at him, thoroughly unamused by his antics. He exhales, his face softening.

“Talk,” he says again, gentler now.

“Well.” She’s haughty at first, then she softens to. “I’m curious if there are things you’d like to do that aren’t…in our current rotation, so to speak. If there’s anything you’re interested in or have…done in the past that you like.”

Alec blinks at her. “I’m very happy thank you,” he says tersely, uneasy with where this conversation seems to be going.

“Surely there’s _something_ more I could be doing.”

“Ellie, god’s sake, what is this about?”

She takes a fortifying sip from her glass. “I sometimes feel like I could be doing _more_. For you. I…” She looks down, cheeks growing hot. “I feel like the focus is oftentimes on _me_ and that I don’t do enough to – “

“ _Ellie_ ,” Alec replies, reaching for her thigh. “The focus is oftentimes on you because I’m not as _young_ as I used to be. I can come about once in a night, unless we’re really pullin’ an all-nighter, and _you_ can have multiple bloody orgasms all night long.”

She’s looking down again, tracing the rim of her glass with her finger. “I don’t go down on you enough.”

He sighs, a hint of a smile on his face. “Yes, you do.”

“I don’t.”

“You know that I prefer to…you know.” He goes a bit red himself. “Come inside you. So that’s what we focus on.”

She tilts her head and lays it on the back of the couch. “Sure?”

“ _Yes_ , love.” He touches her cheek briefly. “Absolutely nothin’ on earth makes me happier than givin’ you orgasms all night, you’ll have no complaints from me.”

“What a prince.”

“Quite right.” He takes a sip, then reaches for her.

“Ah, we’re not done.” She pulls back at bit.

“There’s more?”

She bites her lip before continuing. “We’ve become less…adventurous.”

He is thoroughly insulted by the mere notion of it. “We have a _baby_. It’s an adventure anytime we manage to have sex in our own _bed_.”

“Haven’t you any…fantasies we’ve yet to try?” She asks hopefully.

“…Have _you_?”

She whacks his arm. “Quit turning things around.”

“I’ve always fantasized about fallin’ in love with a unbelievably gorgeous woman, who is bloody _impossible_ by the way, and spendin’ the rest of my life shaggin’ her senseless in our queen size bed. How’s that?”

She’s quite close to pouting at him. “ _Not_ what I had in mind.”

“Name one of yours then.”

“Sex at a crime scene.” She coyly finishes what’s left in her wine glass.

He stares at her, then blinks once.

“Just a _fantasy_ , it’s not meant to _happen_ ,” she insists, reaching for the bottle and pouring herself another glass. “Now you.”

“Fine, on an airplane.”

She laughs into her glass as she raises it to her lips. “You made that up.”

“Well I can’t think of anythin’!”

“Bollocks!”

He groans. “We’ve already crossed a good lot of things off the list, you know. Sex at work, in a public restroom, in the _car_ , in the shower, in the _bathtub_ , the kitchen…”

She holds a hand up. “All right, point taken then.”

He pauses, then refills his own glass thoughtfully.

“What?” She asks, studying him.

“There might be one thing.”

She scooches forward. “What?!”

“In your father’s house.”

Her face lights up, eye wide and sparkling, and a mischievous expression takes over her face. “ _Oh_.”

“Your father’s flat, I guess, in this case."

“Bit tricky. Being so small and all,” she replies, but she’s clearly considering the logistics. “Oh, this _is_ naughty!”

He slides a hand up her thigh, hair falling into his face as he smolders at her. “Like to take you with your father in the next room.”

“Mmm…” Ellie purrs. “I like _that_.”

“Now you,” he says.

“What?”

“You name one now.”

“Well.” She runs her fingers over the back of his hand that’s resting on her thigh. “I’d like you to pick out some lingerie for me to wear.”

“Hmm.” He nods thoughtfully.

“ _You_ go to the shop. _You_ choose it. _You_ walk round the aisles thinking about what you’d like to see me in. You picture me in every lacy little garment you pass by.”

“Hmmm….” The idea of wandering a lingerie shop alone doesn’t thrill him, but the rest of it he can abide with pleasure.

“You _can’t_ shop online.”

“Deal.”

They clink glasses one last time.

“Look at that, compromise,” Ellie says with a grin. “Our marriage may be a success after all.”

“Did you doubt it?”

She raises both eyebrows briefly. “On occasion.”

“Well then you ought to give my ring back.”

She gasps and holds her left hand to her chest protectively. “My most prized possession.”

Alec holds a hand up in defeat. “I give her a ring, I give her a baby, she chooses the ring.”

She leans forward and squeezes his arm. “Oh I _love_ the baby, she’s just darling, where did you get her?”

He reaches for her chin, strokes it with his thumb, then kisses her softly. She’s grinning when he pulls away again. He plants one more kiss on her lips, then says, “Shall we get pissed and watch _The Crown_?”

Her grin grows wider. “Yes, please.”

A few episodes and a bottle and a half of wine in, Ellie and Alec are unsurprised to find themselves grasping frenziedly at each other on the couch. After a few messy snogs on their knees, he pushes her down and crawls on top of her. She untucks his shirt and slides her warm hands up his bare back and he mouths at her breasts through her soft cotton jumper, too impatient and too tipsy to remove it. She tries to exhale and her sighs comes out like soft, joyous laughter as his hand slips between her legs and his fingers begin stroking at her rhythmically.

So fixated are they on their little tumble, they don’t hear the front door open just down the hall.

Daisy and Tom peel off their winter gear in the foyer and once divested, both of their ears perk up.

“ _What_ are they _watching_?” Daisy questions, tilting her head toward the living room.

“Parents shouldn’t be allowed to watch HBO.”

They step out of their boots and trudge down the hallway in their socks.

“Sodding _Game of Thrones_ again.” Daisy shakes her head.

When they appear in the living room archway, Alec’s face is buried in Ellie’s neck, his hand still stroking between her legs, _over_ her leggings at least, and her foot is running up and down his trouser leg.

Daisy and Tom jump backwards, covering their eyes, exclaiming variations on “Oi!” and “No!”

Alec scrambles up to a seated position and Ellie lays where she is, propping herself up on her elbows.

Daisy glances at the television screen, an episode of _The Crown_ frozen on pause. “ _Really_?!”

“Oh, go to bed,” Ellie complains with a roll of her eyes.

After they run off in disgust, Ellie gets a distinct twinkle in her eyes and drags Alec into the downstairs loo. She locks the door, turns on the fan, unfastens his trousers, and when his moans grow louder than the fan can mask, she sticks her hand in his mouth to muffle the noise.

*

Ellie’s regular Saturday lunch with Lucy is especially riotous this week, as Lucy recounts the previous week’s trip to Mallorca during which she “misplaced” her wallet and somehow managed to "hitch-hike" back to Dorset. Not one element of her story makes any sense whatsoever to Ellie, but after a long, stressful week at work she is in no position to question it.

Lucy holds Aila in her lap as she tells the tale, allowing Ellie the rare joy of focusing on eating, and when she finishes, Aila looks up at her as if waiting for the punch line. Ellie snorts.

“You have a very cheeky baby, you know,” Lucy remarks, dropping a bit of chicken salad onto her as she takes a bite of her sandwich. “Fred and Tom weren’t like this.”

Ellie swallows a mouthful of pasta then leans forward and locks eyes with her daughter. “Aila,” she says. Aila smiles back despite her pacifier. She has very recently learned how to smile without dropping the pacifier in the process. A proud moment indeed. “Aila.” She smiles wider. Ellie looks at Lucy. “See that? She knows her own name already.”

“Yeah, she’s a ruddy genius, El.”

Ellie pulls a face at her. “I just sat through a twenty minute story that couldn’t _possibly_ be true, and you can let me brag about my baby a bit?”

“It is true!”

Ellie shakes her head and digs back into her pasta. “Here, you’ll like this. Alec wants to have a shag in Dad’s flat.”

Lucy blinks back at her. “What’s he got a nicer mattress or somethin’?”

“No, while Dad is _there_.”

“ _Oh_.” She’s interested now. “ _Naughty_.”

“Have to sort how to do it without being completely disowned,” Ellie tells her. “Put your menace of a mind to it, will you?”

“I’ll add it to the list,” Lucy replies, wheels already turning. “Have you spoken about the job yet?”

“No.” Ellie pushes her food around her plate. “He’s not brought it up yet.”

“What on earth’s he waiting for?”

“No idea.”

Lucy shakes her head derisively. “And here you are trying to bring his sexual fantasy to life.”

“Honestly I’m not that bothered by it. As long as he doesn’t actually _make_ the decision without talking to me, it’s fine if he wants to take his time thinking on it first,” Ellie replies. “Just wish he’d hurry up about it.”

“Have you decided what _you_ want to do?” Lucy asks, boucing Aila a bit on her lap.

“Well, the job’s not mine for the taking unless _he_ takes the DCI job, so I haven’t got a decision to make yet, have I?” She stabs a piece of chicken on her plate. “Though I’ll be bloody bollocksed if I let this sodding job get away from me again.”

*

Meanwhile, after dropping Fred off at his karate class, Alec stands on the sidewalk outside Broadchurch’s one and only lingerie shop. With his hands in his pockets, he looks around furtively, unable to keep still.

A block away, Tom leaves Erin at the record shop before anxiously walking on, glancing around in case he has to dodge the gaze of a familiar face.

Satisfied, Alec turns and pops inside the shop, a bell jingling at he steps inside.

Moments later, Tom steels himself, takes a deep breath, and opens the door.

***


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Lingerie is too difficult to describe. So here's a link to what Alec buys Ellie. Also I've had few weirder experiences than hopping onto the Victoria's Secret website and trying to see through Alec Hardy's eyes. What a world. [ Link here.](https://www.victoriassecret.com/vs/sleepwear-and-lingerie-catalog/very-sexy-snake-charmer-teddy-5000007357?brand=vs&collectionId=6585a80a-8cee-4a6d-8fff-a46ded641f91&limit=180&productId=23c3b263-8b31-43a2-b825-ac19a62dcf0b&stackId=d1c94e60-8dbb-4a82-af79-e8d8d049d485)

As Alec traverses the aisles of the lingerie shop, he stops to take in as much as possible, studying the garments like crime scene evidence with a thoughtful frown on his face. It’s fairly quiet in the shop, fortunately, and he makes an effort to leave self-consciousness behind. _This is normal_ , he reminds himself. _Men buy naughty presents for women all the time_.

Without meaning to, he defaults to thinking about which garments _Ellie_ would most like. Then he has to remind himself that she’s asked him to buy what _he_ wants to see on her. It’s meant to be less of a gift for her and more of a gift for him. Even though it’s at her request. This is confusing so he tries not to dwell on it longer than he has to. He sifts through the racks, stopping on a number of things he knows Ellie would like. She likes lacy. She likes color. But what does _he_ like? Strappy. Skimpy. Black. Maybe red.

Then he lands on it. It is all those things, plus lacy, for her. He feels an inconvenient tingle down below when he holds it up, picturing her in it. He forces his brain to think of logistics and flips like the rack looking at sizes. He hadn’t thought to ask. But then, as she likes to say, he knows her physical body even better than she does. Still, he doesn’t know a damn thing about sizes. But from what he can tell, not a one of these looks equipped to contain her current _attributes._

Alec walks over to the counter sheepishly and approaches the female employee behind it. He clears his throat.

“How can I help you, sir?”

“Um. Do you – are there…more of these in the back?”

A few feet away, Tom raises his head from the rack he’s been flipping through. He’d recognize that accent anywhere.

“The rest is fine, but the um…the upper area is a bit…small,” Alec chokes out. “My fiancee is breastfeedin’, so it’s, um.” He goes red. “You didn’t need to know that.”

The salesgirl smiles and takes the garment from him. “Let me go check on it.”

Tom turns his head, his eyes widening in horror. “ _Alec_?!”

Alec turns sharply, his entire body stiffening. “Tom.”

They both stare at each other, frozen, for a little too longer. The salesgirl returns with a new garment.

“Here we are, sir.” She holds it out to him. “This ought to satisfy your fiancee’s… _décolletage_.”

Tom and Alec turn back and stare at the garment. Then Tom squeezes his eyes shut, as images of his mother begin flooding his brain. He shakes his head rapidly, then drops whatever he was holding and scurries out of the shop.

The salesgirl is still holding out the garment. “All right?”

“Uh.” Alec turns to her and takes it. “Sorry. My, um. Step-son.”

“Oh.” She chuckles. “Bit awkward.”

He barely recovers enough to purchase the lingerie, and a silk kimono to go with it, because he knows she’ll like that. And then, plagued with the horrific idea of fifteen-year-olds having sex, he gets in the car to go pick up Fred from karate.

*

At home, Ellie sits on the floor in the living room, leaning against the couch. Aila is next to her lying on her play mat, reaching for the soft animals dangling above her and kicking her feet.

Fred calls out for her when he and Alec enter the house.

“Shoes, lad!” Alec reminds him before he takes off running.

Barefoot and in his karate uniform, he runs into the living room toward Ellie, launching himself into her lap.

“Hi, Mumma.”

“Hi, my sweet love.” She squeezes him and kisses his head. “How was karate?”

“I can do the big kick without falling down!”

“Amazing!” She squeezes him tighter and plants kisses all over his face.

Alec appears in the archway, carrying a bag from the lingerie shop. She smiles at him cunningly.

“Get some shopping in, did you?”

Fred snuggles into her, his eyelids beginning to droop. She looks down at him.

“Need a little kip, do you, love?”

“No,” Fred replies with a yawn. “Wanna play legos.”

But his eyes are closing. She rocks him a bit, her lips in his hair.

“Why don’t you go upstairs, little love? Have some quiet time with Rhino and your books, eh?”

“No nap,” he whines with his eyes closed.

“No nap. Just quiet time.”

Alec puts the bag down and moves to his knees next to Aila, who is grinning at him. He grins back, tickling her.

Fred yawns again. “Kay.”

Ellie helps him out of her lap and to standing. “Go on then. And change out of your little uniform please!”

Fred nods lethargically and runs out of the room, loudly ascending the stairs. Aila is laughing her little baby laugh while Alec pulls faces at her. Ellie props her head back against the couch and watches them contentedly. Then Aila kicks him in the face and she bursts out laughing. Alec slides her down out of the play gym and picks her up, going to sit beside Ellie against the couch. As he cradles her, she reaches for his beard over and over.

“She’s boycotting tummy time,” Ellie announces. “Only wants to bat at those stupid animals.”

“Saw somethin’ online that’s supposed to help with that. It’s a water mat, has kind of sensory and tactile things on that she has to be on her tummy to play with,” he tells her. “I’ll buy it tonight.” He scratches her stomach. “Got to strengthen those muscles, wee one.”

Aila sticks her fingers in his mouth.

Ellie chuckles. “Nothing if not opinionated, our little bug.” She squeezes Aila’s foot. “Greer wants to Facetime with us this weekend. Talk about the wedding.”

Alec sighs. “She always wants to talk about the weddin'.”

“Well, she’s low key planning the bloody thing, she’s within her rights,” Ellie replies. “We need to iron out a few details, you and I. Like the cathedral.”

“What about the cathedral?”

“Bit weird. Two divorced people in a Catholic church.”

“Well, it’s more like we’re rentin’ the space, isn’t it? Paul’s goin’ to officiate,” he argues. “It’s not an offense to the Catholic church for us to be _inside_ one, is it?”

“I know, but – “

“It’s the one thing my mother would have cared about,” Alec says, averting his eyes and looking down at the baby. “The one and only thing. And since we can’t get married by a Catholic priest…”

“All right,” Ellie acquiesces. “Just think it’s a bit much. For a low key affair.”

Aila is slapping Alec’s chest now. Ellie smirks.

“You’re not giving her enough attention.”

He lifts her a bit and smooches her cheek.

Ellie’s smirk evolves into a grin. “All she wants is a little playtime with Daddy, look at her.”

Alec repositions himself so that his knees are bent and he props the baby up against his legs, holding onto both her hands and bouncing her.

The front door slams and within a few seconds, Tom passes through the hallway without looking at them. Ellie sits up straight and calls out, “Hi, lovely!”

“Hey,” Tom grumbles from the kitchen.

Ellie shrugs. “What’s eating him, I wonder.”

Alec avoids her gaze, causing her to glare at him.

“What do you know?”

He says nothing.

“ _Alec_.”

He reluctantly turns to her. “Ran into him at the lingerie shop.”

Her eyes go wide. “You did not."

“’Fraid so.”

“Oh, how mortifying,” she says with a self-deprecating laugh. Then she frowns. “Wait, what on earth was my fifteen-year-old son doing at a bloody lingerie shop?!”

Alec goes silent. He keeps his eyes on the baby to discourage them from meeting hers. Aila brings Alec’s hand to her mouth and gnaws on his knuckle with her gums, making experimental noises.

Ellie starts to get up. “Got some words for him, believe you me.”

“Ellie, don’t.” With his other hand, he reaches for her and tries to her hold down. She sits. “You want to tread carefully here. Sex talks with teenagers can be…incendiary. You want to go in fully prepared.”

Her mind is racing and she begins wringing her hands. Then she gets up suddenly. “I’m going to Beth’s.”

*

“He’s sodding _fifteen_! His voice has barely changed!”

Beth walks over to the kitchen table and hands Ellie of a cup of tea, then sits down with one herself.

“Yeah, and?”

“And he’s just a _child_!”

Beth pulls a face and takes a sip from her mug. “Barkin’ up the wrong tree here, El.”

“I just…” She drops her head into her head and lets out a groan. “Why do they do it, Beth? Tell me why they do it.”

Beth raises an eyebrow and stares at her friend. Ellie doesn’t flinch in her earnestness.

“Because they’re ragin’ vessels of _hormones_ , El. Fifteen-year-old boys can look at a _lug-wrench_ and get an erection.”

Ellie looks back at her, horrified.

“I’m just sayin’ it’s…you know. This is what it’s like. Don’t you remember?”

“ _No_ ,” Ellie replies indignantly. “I mean, sixteen maybe, but fifteen?”

“What’s the ruddy difference?”

“There’s a _difference_ , Beth.”

Ellie finally notices her tea and takes a sip, calming down only marginally.

“It’s _her_ influence, you know. Erin’s. A whole year older than him, she is. I bet he won’t even be her first.”

Beth squints at her. “I thought you liked Erin.”

“I _do_ but – “

“Kids are older than they used to be, El. There’s just no gettin’ around it,” Beth tells her evenly. “And Tom…Tom grew up faster than most kids, you know that.”

“ _Emotionally_ , sure. Not… _physically._ ”

Beth sighs. “Well. Good news is the sight of Alec buyin’ you some little dominatrix get up is likely to scare him off shaggin’ for _years_ to come.”

Ellie both goes red and frowns. “Not a little dominatrix get up.” Although she hasn’t seen it. And now she wonders.

“Whatever it was, Tom’s goin’ to be good and celibate for a while now, I wager you.”

*

Meanwhile, at the dining room table, Fred is building Hogwarts out of legos. Not that it actually looks anything like Hogwarts, so one must take him on his word.

Alec sits with him at the table holding Aila in his lap. She has a large red lego in her mouth, far too large for her ever to swallow, and she sucks on it contentedly as Fred constructs his castle. Alec watches him with great interest, impressed at his concentration. Lego construction seems to be the one and only thing Fred can focus on for more than five minutes at a time, aside from screens.

“Hogwarts is in Scotland,” Fred says, leaning down so that he’s at eye level with one of the windows. “Did you ever go?”

“Well, of course Hogwarts isn’t ---” He stops himself before he says _real_. It’s not worth it. “Nope. Never been myself.”

“Can we go someday?” He’s sifting through his giant box of legos, clearly looking for a very specific one. “Maybe you and Mumma can get married there!”

“At Hogwarts?”

Fred looks up and grins. “Dumbledore can be the priest.”

“But Dumbledore’s --- “ Not worth it. “Not sure Dumbledore would be available on such short notice, mate.”

“Can we take a train to the castle? And see it up close?” Fred asks. “Is it near where you grew up?”

“…Not especially.”

Fred begins working on a tower. “How come we don’t live in Scotland if you’re Scottish?”

“Well, _you’re_ not Scottish. And neither is your mum.”

Fred scraps the tower he’s working on and starts again. “But don’t you miss your family? Auntie Greer and Auntie Megan. And Melody! Don’t you like it there? Isn’t that why you’re getting married there?”

Aila shifts in his arms and looks up at him, as if she’s waiting on an answer as well.

“Well. Scotland’s a very important part of my life. And it means a lot to me. But it’s not…it doesn’t make sense to live there anymore,” Alec tries to explain. “Our life is here.”

“But you’re getting married in Scotland and you gave Ailie a Scottish name. And you still talk Scottish. It seems like you miss it,” Fred argues.

Alec eyes him suspiciously. “You just want to go to Hogwarts.”

Fred shrugs. “I’d just get made fun of for having Muggle parents anyway.”

The front door is heard opening down the hall.

“Bet that’s your mum.”

“Muggle Mumma.”

Ellie breezes into the dining room. “Apparently Tom’s an adult now.”

Alec sighs. Fred frowns and looks up at her.

“No he’s not!” 

Ellie kisses the top of Fred’s head, then reaches for Aila. “Give her here.”

Alec hands the baby over, and she immediately lays her head against Ellie’s shoulder, calm and content, gripping onto her jumper. He smiles at the sight.

“She ought to go down. I’ll feed her upstairs.” She rubs Aila’s back and kisses her head, keeping her lips there. Then she runs a quick hand through Alec’s hair. “Will you start thinking about supper, love?”

“Cornish game hens and a nice bouillabaisse, I think,” he replies, throwing a smirk Fred’s way.

“EWWW.”

He grins at Ellie. “I’ll manage somethin’.”

*

Much later, while Alec is putting Fred to bed, Ellie stands in the master bedroom staring at the bag from the lingerie shop, which is on the floor nearby. After listening to hear if anyone’s coming, she crouches down and peeks inside. Intrigued, she lifts out the lingerie with her index finger, studying it with hot, flushed cheeks and a suppressed grin.

“You haven’t one ounce of self-control, Ellie Miller.”

She whips around to find Alec standing in the doorway. She loses her balance and falls on her arse.

“Mm, serves you right.”

He continues into the room and closes the door behind him. He approaches and holds a hand out to help her up. She hops to her feet.

“You don’t get your little treat until arrangements have been made at your father’s flat,” he reminds her slyly.

“Lucy is working on a plan.”

He grimaces. “ _Lucy_?"

“She’s a criminal mastermind!”

Alec walks past her and picks up the bag, depositing it in his closet and closing the door. When he turns back around, she’s got her hands placed on her hips in offensive position.

“At least let me try it on. What if it’s a poor fit?”

He takes a few steps toward her until she’s close enough to touch. After a quick once-over, he reaches for the buttons of the soft flannel shirt she’d changed into after Aila had spit up on her jumper. He unfastens two of them, then leans forward and places a kiss just underneath her jawline.

“Not a poor fit,” he whispers. “I _know you_ , remember?”

She watches him unfasten the rest with practiced concentration, the slightest of smiles on her lips. Then he pushes the sides of the shirt open and lowers himself to his knees, pressing the side of his face to her stomach. She places one hand at his shoulder while the other strokes his hair. They’re both quiet for a moment, reverential. Then, gently patting his bearded cheek, she breaks the silence.

“So then. Are you not yet ready to brief me, DCI Hardy?”

There’s a pause, then he leans back and looks up at her guiltily. “How long’ve you known?”

Her expression is sympathetic, but clearly concerned. “A week nearly.”

He pushes himself up and goes to sit at the edge of the bed. “Christ. ‘m sorry, El.”

She follows, standing before him. “What’s the trouble then?”

“Means a lot more time at work. Less flexibility. Less time together,” he explains.

She nods, taking his hands. “More money. More prestige. More of a challenge…”

Alec glances up at her, surprised. “You want this?”

“I’ve waited five bloody years for this job, of course I want this!”

“But the kids,” he protests, weakly but earnestly. “The baby.”

“I know.” She looks down uncertainly, then meets his gaze again. “But we’ll figure it out.”

“Then there’ll be the fact of the two people runnin’ this department bein’ married to each other. Needin’ the same days off, typically. With the same kids gettin’ ill, domestic rows in the office…”

“Not so different from now, is it?” Ellie replies.

“Only we’ll both have more responsibility.”

She takes his face in her hands and looks down at him steadfastly. “We’ll sort it. We’ll delegate. As a team we’re already the most valuable thing this department has got on, we’re just taking it to the next level up.”

He leans forward and presses a kiss to her sternum, lingering there. She continues stroking his hair as before. He wraps his arms around her waist and begins sucking at her skin tenderly, moving between her breasts.

“I want the kids to see us _trying_ ,” she continues. “I want them to know that our work is important to us, I want that instilled in them as well. After all, it’s what first bonded us together, isn’t it? I want them to see us trying to make it work, doing what’s hard, because it’s worth it.”

He nods, humming in agreement, his face in her breasts.

Ellie smiles to herself, thinking about the ways in which she will redecorate his office.

Then with a wistful sigh, she says, “DCI Hardy and DI Hardy. Not annoying at all.”

***


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Breaking this chapter into two mostly because it's taking me so long but also because it only feels right and proper to post something on Olivia Colman's birthday.

When Ellie creeps back into their bedroom around 6am, she has already been up since 4:30. Alec is usually the first one to rouse upon hearing Aila’s cries through the video monitor, so the fact that he slept through them without so much as a stir spoke volumes to Ellie.

Aila has become highly uninterested in sleep in the last few days. At five months old, she’s now very much in an attachment phase and seems to consider sleep to be simply an interruption of her time with her parents. When Ellie went into the nursery, Aila smiled at her happily and after being fed, all she seemed to want was to be held. By now, Ellie has mastered the perfect combination of rocking, bouncing, swaying, and singing to get Aila to sleep, and within about an hour, she has her back down again.

With a yawn, she eagerly scurries back to the bed, where she finds Alec now fast asleep on _her_ side. She smiles as she slips back under the covers, sidling up against his warm body. He’s lying on his back, and she places a hand on his chest before leaning down to kiss his cheek.

“Love.” She kisses his jaw, then his ear, before sucking on his lobe. He offers her an appreciative groan, but nothing else. She slides her hand underneath his t-shirt and glides it over his chest and abdomen. “Hey.”

He closes his eyes tighter, but leans a bit into her hand. “Still dark,” he grumbles.

“Mm,” she agrees, her lips grazing his temple. “Tell that to your daughter.”

“Daisy?” He tries to stop it, but a smirk quickly follows. He cannot sustain a joke when he’s this tired.

She kisses the smirk. “Aila was up at 4:30.”

He groans again. “Sorry.”

“You were out cold.” Her hand travels back and forth across his stomach. His smile returns at the sensation.

He feels her hand move lower. “Not anymore.”

She kisses his eyelid, then he finally opens his eyes. “Hi there.” Her hand is just under the waistband of his pyjamas.

“Mm, mornin’, lass.”

She leans down and kisses him full on the lips. “Reckon we’ve got something to celebrate today.”

He reaches for the back of her neck and keeps her lips where they are. “Reckon we do. DI Miller.” He guides her over him and she straddles his waist, lips never leaving his. “You are by far my favourite alarm clock.”

Her hand moves lower until she’s stroking his cock. He nips at her bottom lip in response with a low growl.

“And you know what else?” She asks, grinning as he hardens in her hand. “We’re having dinner at my father’s tonight.”

His eyes widen. “You mean – “

“Oh yes.” She runs her thumb over his tip and he gasps. “Lucy will distract him while we…disappear off to the loo.”

He grabs her by the hair and pulls her down to kiss her again, tongue pushing past her lips. After he snogs her senseless, she runs her tongue over his lips then pulls her head back.

“And when we get home…” She nods in the direction of his closet.

He pushes his hand down into her knickers and squeezes her arse in appreciation, growling again.

“So what you’re sayin’ is…three times in one day.”

Her hand on his cock begins sliding up and down at a rhythmic pace. “At _least_.”

 _“Christ_ ,” he gasps. “I love you.”

She kisses him slow and deep as he raises his hips into her hand. “Yes, you do.”

Alec is _fully_ awake after she goes down on him, taking her torturous time and causing him to muffle his enthusiastic appreciation with a pillow. He then reciprocates, only after this time having the forethought to turn on the sound machine they keep near the door for exactly this reason, and makes her come with his tongue while she grips onto the headboard helplessly.

They hop into the shower together to save time, managing to mostly refrain from any funny business, and when they reemerge from the loo, Fred is sitting on their bed with Rhino, patiently waiting for someone to pay attention to him.

After breakfast, Ellie decides to take this opportunity to finally speak to Tom. She knocks on his door, shifting her weight back and forth as she waits.

“Ready to go in five!” He calls back.

“Can I come in, lovely?”

There’s an uncertain pause. Then, “okay.”

Ellie opens the door and steps inside. Tom is shoving things in his schoolbag. “Got a minute?”

“Not really.”

She sits down on his unmade bed anyway. “Thought we’d spoken about this,” she says, looking down at it.

“You’re never in here, what does it matter if I make my bed?”

“It’s just good practice!” She sighs. A battle for another time. “Listen, love. About the other day.”

Tom looks up, startled. “What the other day.”

“When you and Alec had your little…run-in at the…shop.”

Tom’s eyes go wide. “Mum. No. _Please_.”

“If you and Erin are having sex, I think we should talk about it,” Ellie insists.

He furrows his rows in total consternation. “ _Why_ should we need to _talk_ about it?!”

“You’re fifteen, Tom - and a _young_ fifteen at that – and it’s…you know…in many ways you’re still…a child, which – “

“Oh my god, Mum, please.” He leans back against the wall and covers his face.

Ellie sits up straight, steeling herself. “I need to know you’re being _safe_. And I need to know you’re being _respectful_.”

Tom removes his hands from his face but doesn’t look at her. “Yes, Mum.”

“Good.” She nods tersely. “And I think it’s important that you know it gets better.”

“…What."

“Sex. It’s rubbish when you’re young, quite frankly, you barely know your _own_ changing body, how on earth are you supposed to understand your _partner’s_ body?” She says. “Honestly I find the idea of it quite preposterous but there’s nothing I can do to stop you so if you’re going to _do_ it, just know that it won’t always be rubbish.” Ellie shakes her head at herself. “Probably I should be saying this to _Erin_ , not you, but hopefully her parents have done the job well enough. Speaking of, don’t forget to think about _Erin’s_ needs, yeah? They’re much more complex than yours.”

“Please stop. Just…please.” His arms are folded across his chest and he’s gone from red to green in the face.

“And if you want to talk to Alec about any of this, he’s glad to anytime.” 

They both know that’s questionable at best.

“ _Fine_ , okay, are we done?”

“Just one last thing,” Ellie says, standing up. “Don’t you ever _dare_ do it in this house, you understand me? Not unless you know for absolute certain we’re _all_ gone for hours at least.”

Tom scoffs. “Don’t have to twist my arm there.”

She pats his cheek, then kisses the other one. “I love you.” Then she slips past him out the door.

*

Despite the fact that she was expecting them, Chief Superintendent Elaine Jenkinson seems quite frazzled when Alec and Ellie show up at her office door. They sit in chairs side by side across from her desk, expectantly. Ellie is dressed up a bit more than usual – knee-length purple skirt, a fashionable grey blazer over her off-white blouse. She crosses her legs and folds her hands in her lap.

“What is it then?” Jenkinson asks, barely able to offer them her full attention.

“Uh.”

Ellie and Alec glance at each other, then back at her.

“The, um,” Alec stammers. “DCI position. And the – “

“Right, right.” She leans forward. “So what’ll it be?”

“Well, we’ve discussed it and – “ Ellie begins.

“Yes?”

“I accept the DCI offer,” Alec says. “And Ellie – “

“I’m happy to accept the DI position vacated by Alec.”

Jenkinson blinks at them, then turns to her computer. “Great. HR will be in touch about paperwork. And Ellie, I assume that by Monday you’ll resume work full-time in order to accommodate the needs of the Detective Inspector position.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“We’ll inform your team together and then I’ll send out a memo to the rest of the station,” Jenkinson finishes. “Anything else?”

“Uh.” Ellie shifts a bit. “No, ma’am.”

After they’ve stepped out of her office and closed the door behind them, they face each other, a bit stunned.

“…Bit anti-climactic,” Alec says.

“Uh, _yeah_.”

“So I guess we just…”

“Business as usual,” Ellie says

“Til Monday.”

“Yes."

They both stand still for a moment, arms dangling at their sides. Then, in the same second, they take a step toward each other, all but gliding into each other’s arms.

“Congratulations, boss,” she says, grinning up at him.

“Congratulations to _you_.”

He leans down and kisses her, soft and sweet, and they smile against each other’s lips.

“Get a room!”

Hal passes by them, file in hand, and winks at them as he passes. They ignore him entirely. Ellie pushes herself up on her tip-toes and pulls him closer, kissing him again.

Then she says, a sense of accomplishment and relief washing over her, “Fucking _finally_.”

*

From the living room, Tom waits anxiously to catch a glimpse of his mother leaving the kitchen and heading up the stairs. When she finally does, he furtively sneaks into the kitchen, where Alec is simultaneously holding a very curious Aila while stirring a sauce on the stove.

“Alec.” He wrings his hands. “Could we, um – do you have a second?”

Alec glances over his shoulder. “Course, lad.” He turns the burner down to simmer, then both of them sit at the kitchen table across from each other. Alec settles Aila in his lap.

“Wanted to, um…” Tom clears his throat. “So the other day, right? When we – “

Alec clears his throat in exactly the same way. “Yeah, right.”

“And then Mum…sort of, you know, she sort of tried to…give me the, um. Talk. This morning.”

Alec sighs and hangs his head. “Course she did,” he mutters under his breath.

“Anyway I wondered if we could – if you and I might – if I could ask you – “

The older man nods knowingly, if a bit apprehensively. “You want to talk to… _me_ about…sex.”

“…If that’s all right.”

“Yeah, yeah, not a problem, go on.” He shifts in his chair, sitting up straight.

Tom takes a breath, then is acutely aware of Aila staring at him with her giant brown eyes, sucking at her pacifier.

“Could you maybe, um. Put Aila down for this?”

“Ah, right, yeah.”

Alec dashes into the dining room and finds her bouncer, bringing it into the kitchen and placing it on the floor. Then he settles Aila in it. She seems a bit miffed, but doesn’t make a scene.

“Right, then.”

Tom looks down at the table. “How long should it last?”

“Uh.” Alec folds his hands in his lap, leaning forward a bit. “Well, there’s no _should_ , really. I s’pose general consensus is the longer the better, but it sort of depends on…what you’re doin’ and what you want. What you both want. And you’re young so, really, the possibilities are endless.”

“But I’m s’posed to like, not…finish before she’s finished. Right?” Tom is bright red and makes no direct eye contact.

“…Not necessarily. Probably better for her if you can hold out awhile, ‘cause it’ll usually take longer for her, but you can still…um. Finish her off after you’ve…”

“Right.” Tom nods too quickly. “Okay."

“Think sometimes it’s better to just get her off first in general, right?” Alec offers, crossing one leg over the other. His entire body is wracked with discomfort but he’s determined to get through this to the very best of his ability. “Then you’ve got less to worry about. Obviously it’s ideal if you can…get her off again, while _you_ ….but. At least if you’ve already done it there’s less guilt and awkwardness involved.”

“Huh. Like, so…oral sex and that.”

Alec shrugs, trying to seem as casual as possible. “Yeah, or with your hand.”

“How do you……….know how to do that.”

Alec quietly chuckles, looking down before looking back up again. “Instinct and then practice. Mostly practice. There’s no other way really. Listenin’ helps. If you’re lucky she’ll be able to _tell_ you what she likes.”

“…And if she can’t?”

“You’ll figure it out together.”

Tom fidgets a bit more. “Mum kept saying ‘it gets better.’ What does that _mean_ exactly?”

Alec smiles, imagining the awkwardness of Ellie insisting upon this fact to her fifteen-year-old son. “Uh, well. Like anythin’, good sex takes practice. So in that sense it’s probably one of the few things that actually does get better with age. But also, your first few times with a new person can be…uh, _middlin'_ until you get to know each other better. Get to know what you both like. I suspect that’s all she meant by it.”

“I don’t need details, _please_ , but…is that what it was like for you two?”

Alec smiles again, looking down and thinking back on the memory of it. He’s a bit flushed when he looks up again. “Admittedly no. But your mum and I already knew each other extraordinarily well outside the bedroom. And we’d been such a long time comin’ that I think it just…worked, right from the start. But that’s rare and you oughn’t expect it to be the case.”

Tom nods. “Okay.”

“…Does that help?”

Aila begins to fuss in her bouncer, unamused to be left out of this family meeting, and spits out her pacifier.

“Yeah.”

“All right, wee lass, I hear you.” Alec reaches down and picks the baby up, settling her on his lap again. He puts her pacifier back into her mouth. She leans back into him contentedly, and triumphantly.

Tom stands. “Um. Thanks.”

“Yeah.” Alec nods at him. “You got it, mate.”

Tom awkwardly shuffles out of the kitchen. Alec looks down at Aila.

“Well, we made it through that one alive."

Aila blinks back up at him.

*

After sitting the three kids down to their dinner, Alec leaves them to it and goes to find Ellie upstairs. She’s changed out of her work clothes and into a nearly knee-length belted shirt dress and is doing her makeup in front of the mirror. The baby in his arms begins bouncing excitedly when she sees her.

“Nice dress,” Alec comments, giving her the once-over.

She glances over at him, lipstick in hand. “All the easier for you to fuck me in.”

He covers Aila’s ears. “ _Naughty_ Mummy.”

As he gets closer to her, Aila begins making anxious little noises as she bounces.

Ellie smirks. “She’s hungry I take it.” She puts the lipstick down and takes the baby out of his arms.

Aila immediately spits out her pacifier in anticipation as Ellie takes her over to the bed and sits down against the headboard. Alec picks it up and places it on the bureau.

“Kids are all sorted?”

“Inhaling their dinner like they’ve never eaten before in their lives,” Alec replies, satisfied.

She unbuttons the top of her dress and unhooks her bra so that Aila can have her dinner too. Alec sits on the edge of the bed next to them.

“We’ll go as soon as she’s finished,” Ellie says. “Dad’s making a lasagna apparently.”

“Veggie or meat.”

“It’s _Dad_.”

“So, meat,” Alec assumes.

“We ought to run off to the loo _before_ dinner, I reckon. Nothing worse than a shag on a full stomach,” Ellie notes.

“Right you are.”

Aila pinches Ellie’s breast. “ _Ow_ , bloody hell.” Aila tips her head back and smiles at her cheekily. Ellie looks at Alec and shakes her head. “This girl, I swear.”

“Tom came to me about sex.” He says it with a hint of pride.

Ellie’s eyes widen. “He _did_ , did he?”

“Very concerned about how to satisfy a woman.”

“Good. He should be,” she replies. “And he certainly came to the right place.” She wiggles her eyebrows at him saucily.

He returns the innuendo. “Prove it to you in about an hour.”

She smiles. “You prove it to me every _day_ , love.”

Alec leans forward to kiss her. Aila reaches a hand out as she nurses to bat at him. “Yes, hi.” He smirks at her than kisses her cheek. He places a kiss on Ellie’s exposed breast too, just for good measure.

Then Ellie closes her eyes, stroking the baby’s arm absently, relishing this quiet moment. Alec runs a hand up and down her mostly bare legs, thoughtfully, studying her.

“You growin’ your hair out again?” He asks. It’s nearly shoulder-length now.

“Might do,” she replies, eyes still closed. “If only because Detective Inspectors with four children can’t be expected to make time for hair appointments.”

“God knows I never did,” he agrees.

Having sucked one side dry, Aila is moved to the other breast, which she hungrily latches onto. Alec’s mobile buzzes and he pulls it out of his pocket.

“Lucy.” He looks at the screen, holding it extremely close to his face without his glasses. “Apparently we’re late.”

“Hopefully she’ll fall asleep,” Ellie says, nodding at the baby. “Feel better knowing Daiz and Tom aren’t wrestling with _both_ Aila and Fred. Just seems unfair.”

Alec shoots off a reply to Lucy, then puts his mobile away again.

“Do you think Tom’s ready?” She asks suddenly. “To…you know.”

Alec rubs his face, considering the question. “Bein’ fairly thoughtful about it. Askin’ the right questions. ‘Bout the most we can hope for, yeah?”

Ellie nods slowly. “Yeah.” She looks down at the baby and up again. “I _really_ don’t want to be a grandmother at forty-four.”

***


	4. Chapter 4

When Aila is handed over to Daisy, she seems perfectly fine. But the minute Alec and Ellie slip out the door, she starts to wail. They look back at Daisy, guiltily.

“It’ll be fine,” Daisy insists, shifting Aila from one hip to the other. “Be fine in a minute.”

This tends to be true with babies, so they continue out the door.

In the car, Alec is thoughtful as he drives. Ellie nudges him.

“Bit of a shame we can’t do this a little more… _spontaneously_ ,” he says.

She blinks in confusion, but quickly catches up. “Since when do you like to do anything spontaneously?”

He shrugs. “Just a bit…odd, knowin’ we’re gonna get to your father’s flat and shag. Rather than it…you know. Comin’ on organically.”

“Like me suddenly rubbing your crotch with my foot under the table.”

Alec clears his throat and shifts in his seat. “Uh, yeah.”

“Or…my hand on your thigh, drifting over to your zipper…”

He shifts again. “ _Ellie,_ I'm _drivin'_ here."

She makes a scoffing noise and turns to look out the window. “Just sayin’, don’t act like it takes much to turn you on. Detective Chief Inspector.” She glances back at him saucily and he catches it.

“Gonna have to pull over in a minute.”

She grins, staring back out the window triumphantly. He remains shifty and slightly disgruntled the remainder of the drive.

When they reach the flat, David greets them enthusiastically. Looking on, they can see a deeply bored-looking Lucy holding a G&T to her lips as they embrace him.

“Come through, come through.”

They don’t spend a lot of time at David’s flat. He mostly joins them at their home, or sometimes at Lucy’s. It’s something of a bachelor pad. A widower’s pad. One bedroom, connecting living room and kitchen, space for a small dining table separating the two rooms. It’s furnished well enough, with a few things carried over from Ellie’s childhood home, but sparsely decorated. They can smell his famous lasagna within seconds of entering, and it’s a comforting scent to both Lucy and Ellie – the one meal their father was able to cook when their mother decided she needed a well-deserved night off.

“You’re late,” Lucy states accusatorily.

Ellie dismisses her. “We’ve an infant at home, what do you want from us?”

“I’ll go check on supper,” David says, moving into the kitchen.

Lucy reluctantly stands. “Drinks?”

“What you’re having,” Ellie replies.

“Scotch if you have it,” Alec adds.

The two of them sit close together on the couch. Ellie crosses one leg over the other, prompting Alec to rest a hand on her knee naturally. As Lucy hands them their drinks, she has a bemused look on her face.

“Fascinating how quickly you two have gone from naughty office shag buddies to…classy, domestic old married couple.”

Ellie frowns. “Oi with the _old_ there, Luce.”

Alec runs his thumb back and forth over Ellie’s knee, unperturbed by Lucy’s comments. Frankly, what they have now is all he’s ever wanted. “Been almost a year and a half,” he points out.

Ellie turns her head to him. “The wedding will be almost _exactly_ a year and a half, won’t it?”

“Aye.” He takes a sip of his fresh scotch.

Lucy seats herself across from them with a far off gaze. “I remember all that sexual tension, _blimey_.”

“Eh?” David calls out from the kitchen area.

“Close your ears, Dad,” Lucy calls back.

“Plenty of sexual tension still,” Ellie insists matter-of-factly. She loops her arm through Alec’s and pulls herself even closer to him. “Already done it once today I’ll have you know.”

Alec looks over at her incredulously. “ _Ellie_.”

“Not speakin’ of _sex._ Speakin’ of _sexual tension_ ,” Lucy explains. “You used to be jumpin’ each other with your _eyes_ all the time.”

Ellie is still frowning, clearly offended by all of this. “Now we don’t _need_ to jump each other with our eyes, we can do it proper.”

“I can still hear you!” David calls over his shoulder.

Alec’s hands travels from Ellie’s knee up her thigh just a little, pushing up the hem of her dress a bit. “Why don’t you concern yourself with your own sex life, eh, Lucy?”

Ellie is regarding her sister curiously, a bit flummoxed by her current line of questioning, given that she _knows_ the whole “shag in the loo” plan and has in fact helped execute it. Something must be lacking in her own sex life at the moment.

“Come and give us a hand, Luce, will you?” David beckons her.

With a dramatic sigh, Lucy puts her drink down and answers her father’s call.

“Must’ve had a bad bunk up or something,” Ellie says with a shrug, sipping her G&T.

“Always tryin’ to take things out on _us_ , that one is,” Alec remarks, sipping his own drink.

He draws little circles just above Ellie’s knee with two fingers. She leans forward and plants a lingering kiss on his jaw, then rests her head on his shoulder. He’s looking down at the ministrations of his own hands on her knee.

“Wearing those black lacy knickers you like,” she whispers, breath hot in his ear.

He shivers, then slides his hand farther up her thigh. With a groan, he replies, “Goin’ to pull them off with my _teeth_.”

She feels her body start to melt into him. He presses his fingers hard into her milky flesh, then turns his eyes to her breasts pressing against his chest as she turns into him.

“No sexual tension, my arse,” he grumbles.

David approaches the table carrying a casserole dish of lasagna. “Soup’s on!”

They separate and relocate themselves to the small square table in the center of the room, which has four chairs and just enough room for all of them.

“Lovely, Dad, as always,” Ellie says, placing her napkin on her lap.

David serves each of them a portion of lasagna. “Nice of your sister to think of throwing you this little celebratory dinner, eh?”

Lucy makes at face at them. Ellie purses her lips and tries to conceal her smirk. “Extremely.”

“Not often a couple gets promoted on the same day,” Lucy says. “…At the same office.”

“Let’s all raise a glass then.”

They all do.

“To Alec and Ellie. To jobs well-earned.”

“Here, here,” Lucy chimes in they clink glasses.

“Thanks very much,” Alec says, before sipping from his scotch.

“Very kind of you both,” Ellie adds.

“Right, well, dig in, all,” David directs them.

As Ellie takes a bite of her lasagna, she slips one foot out of her heel and moves it up Alec’s trouser leg, flexing her toes against his ankle. He takes a bite and locks eyes with her.

“How are my grandchildren then?”

“Oh, fine,” Ellie answers, a hand covering her mouth as she chews. “Troublemakers every last one of them, but they wear it well.”

“Even the baby?” David chuckles.

“ _Especially_ the baby,” Alec replies. “Our wee imp, that one is.”

“I’ve always said she was a schemer, from day one, but only now does Alec believe me,” Ellie notes. “She’s always got something up her little sleeve.”

“Far too cute for her own good,” Alec adds. Then he glances over at Ellie, who is eating quite voraciously, and nudges her with a warning glance.

“Mm.” She nods and puts her fork down, reaching instead for her drink.

He continues with _small_ bites.

“Things coming along with the wedding and all?” David questions.

Alec and Ellie both exchange sheepish glances.

“To be honest, we keep forgetting about it.”

“Four weeks away!” Lucy replies incredulously.

“Greer is hard at work in Glasgow, I assure you,” Alec tells them. “And Angus will thank us for giving that busybody somethin’ to occupy her.”

David nods. “Looking forward to meeting the rest of your clan, Alec,” he says. “So to speak.”

 _Clan_ gets a smirk from both Lucy and Ellie.

“You may regret those words once you meet them,” Alec says.

Ellie daps her mouth with a napkin. “Just running to the loo.”

She stands, throws Alec a seductively beckoning glance, then disappears down the hallway.

“I’m sure they’re fine people,” David continues.

“Well.” Alec wavers. “They adore Ellie, so at the very least you’ll have that in common.”

“Got good taste then.” David offers him a satisfied nod.

As Alec takes another sip of his scotch, his mobile rings. “Sorry.” He pulls it out of his pocket. It’s Ellie. “Ah, work, could be important, mind if I um – “ He gestures vaguely toward the hall.

“By all means, you’ve more responsibility now,” David replies agreeably. “Go on.”

Alec pushes his chair back and exits into the hallway. He can feel Lucy’s smirk long after he’s disappeared from view. He approaches the closed loo door and lightly taps his fingers against it. It opens. He slips quickly inside, closing it behind him and locking it. Ellie is leaning back against the sink, her black lacy knickers dangling on her index finger.

“Drop your trousers,” she demands.

Alec practically runs at her, snatching up her knickers and inspecting them. “I thought we were savin’ these for my teeth.”

“Haven’t the patience.”

He tosses them away and begins unbuckling his belt frantically. Ellie starts unbuttoning her shirt dress all the way down to her own loose belt at the waist. By the time his trousers have dropped, his head is between her breasts, mouthing at her hungrily. His hand moves between her legs and starts caressing the inside of her thigh. She slides her hands underneath his shirt, up and down his back, every so often digging her nails in. With his nose and his tongue, he nudges one of her breasts out of her bra cup and laps at her nipple. At the same time, he dips a finger inside her and she bites into his shoulder to keep from gasping. He kisses his way up her chest, lingering briefly at her collarbone, then finally captures her lips.

She grins, taking his face in both her hands. “Happy?”

He kisses her again, the force of it pulling her forward. “Ecstatic.”

They’re happy just to look at each other for a moment, noses touching, lips curled up into flushed smiles. Then Ellie says, “S’pose we ought to – “

“Right.” He yanks down his briefs, then grips her thighs and lifts her up onto the sink.

“Careful now,” she says cheekily, a glimmer in her eyes, reminded of Aila’s conception. “Or we’ll wind up with _another_ little accident.”

“Fine by me,” he replies, guiding himself inside her with a groan he muffles into her neck.

She wraps her legs around his waist and starts to whimper as he moves inside her.

“Shhh.” He silences her with his lips.

Her arms circle his neck as he kisses her, his thrusts finding a rhythm that makes both of their hearts race. Her head bangs back against the mirror when he thumb finds her clit, the noise causing them both to laugh silently, forehead pressed together. Then he lowers his head and bites into her neck.

“Gonna make you come so hard in your father’s house,” he whispers gruffly into her skin.

Her fingers are tangled in his hair, pulling hard at it to keep from crying out, biting into her lip so hard she draws blood. He’s panting desperately into her shoulder, slamming into her a little quicker now, never letting up with his thumb.

“Almost,” she whimpers into his hair. “Al – almo--- _there_.”

As high-pitched cries emit from her, he turns on the faucet to drown out the noise. Then he comes just as hard, low moans from the back of his throat muffled into her shoulder. He falls into her, pushing her back against the mirror again. She turns off the faucet, then wraps her arms around him as he slowly pulls out of her and slides her off the sink. Still wrapped up together, their breathing begins to steady.

“You’re bloody perfect,” he exhales, placing a kiss on her throat.

When it seems like he’s trying to bury himself underneath her skin, she says, “No time for afterglow, my love.” Then plants a kiss in his hair before gently pushing him away.

He nods grudgingly, and they both set about making themselves presentable again.

“You go,” he suggests. “I’ll clean up and follow you in a minute or two.”

Ellie finds her knickers in the bathtub and pulls them back on as he grins at her.

“Oh, shut up.”

She flushes the toilet for good measure, then gives him a quick kiss before slipping out the door.

Lucy and David have both cleaned their plates by the time she returns. She takes her seat casually, replacing the napkin on her lap.

“Where’s Alec gone off to then?” She asks, looking around.

“Work phoned,” David says, helping himself to another portion of lasagna.

Lucy rolls her eyes at Ellie, who blushes and picks up her fork. Alec enters, staring at his mobile as he approaches his seat.

“Five texts from Daiz,” he says, scrolling through them.

Ellie looks up, frowning. “Something happened?”

“Baby hasn’t stopped cryin' since we left.”

“Oh, sweet girl,” Ellie sighs sympathetically, crumpling up her napkin and tossing it on the table. Alec pulls her chair out for her as she stands. “I’m sorry, Dad.”

“Goin’ through an attachment phase, the wee one is,” Alec explains, going for their coats.

David and Lucy stand.

“You want to take some of this home with you?” He asks, gesturing toward the casserole dish.

“Rather not wait.” Ellie kisses her father’s cheek. “Ta.”

In the car, Alec reaches for Ellie’s hand and brings it to his lips. She gives him a small smile in return.

“You don’t think she’s ill, do you?”

“Hasn’t shown any other signs of it,” he replies, squeezing her hand. “Let’s not worry ourselves.”

“Right.”

They can hear Aila crying when they pull into the drive. Inside, Daisy is pacing around the living room, bouncing her desperately, as she wails. Tom is standing nearby holding a bottle that clearly hasn’t been touched and shaking a rattle at her helplessly. Ellie goes straight for her, taking her from an exhausted Daisy, who shakes her sore arms out.

“It’s all right, love, you’re all right.” Ellie holds Aila tightly against her, patting her back and rocking from side to side. It takes Aila a moment before she stops crying, to register that her parents have returned and she’s no longer in Daisy’s arms.

Alec puts an arm around Daisy’s shoulders and kisses the top of her head. “Sorry, darlin’. Should have checked my texts sooner.”

“Won’t eat a thing,” Tom says, then walks off toward the kitchen. “I’ll put the bottle back in the fridge now Mum’s here.”

“Thanks, mate.”

“There was no consoling her,” Daisy tells them. “Fred’s probably still up, don’t see how he could sleep with all the noise, but Tom tried.”

“Shhh, shhhh,” Ellie repeats, whispering in the baby’s ear. Aila’s chest is heaving still, though the tears have stopped. She makes little breathless grunting noises, hiding her face against Ellie’s throat. “All right, bug. You’re all right.”

Alec squeezes Daisy’s shoulder again. “We’ve got it now, darlin’, go on. Thanks for tryin’.”

Daisy nods and rushes up the stairs before anyone can change their minds. Tom returns from the kitchen.

“All right if I – “ He gestures toward the stairs.

“Go on, lovely, thank you,” Ellie replies.

He bolts up after Daisy. Alec goes to Ellie and the baby, placing a steady hand on Aila’s back.

“Easy does it, love,” he tells her softly.

She turns her head at the sound of his voice so she can see him. She lays her head against Ellie’s shoulder, blinking at Alec as her breathing begins to slow.

“There’s my lovely lass.” He kisses her forehead.

“She feel warm to you?” Ellie asks.

Alec feels her all over. “A bit, but likely just from expendin’ all that energy.” He strokes her cheek. “You’re not ill, are you, darlin’?”

Aila blinks at him slowly, now calmed by the rhythm of her mother’s heartbeat and the sight of her father’s face.

“Think I’ll bring her up to the nursery and try to feed her,” Ellie says. “Will you see about Fred?”

Alec nods, and they both head upstairs. Before Ellie turns toward the nursery, they can both see that the light is on in Fred’s room and they share a knowing smile before parting ways.

Alec gently pushes the door all the way open and steps inside. Fred is lying on his stomach in his _Star Wars_ footie pyjamas, flipping through a picture book with Rhino at his side.

“Still up there, lad?”

Fred looks up. “Ailie was crying.”

Alec sits on the edge of the bed. “She’s all right now. Time for you to get some sleep, eh?”

Fred closes his book, sits up, and inches closer to Alec. “She was crying a _lot_.”

“It’s hard for her to be without us right now. But she’ll be fine,” Alec explains. “Lots of babies go through this when they reach a certain age.”

“Did I?”

Alec opens his mouth then immediately closes it. He feels a wave of sadness wash over him when he realizes he does not know the answer to this. “…Dunno, mate. Reckon it’s likely though.”

He imagines a five-month-old Fred, at home with Joe, being rocked and soothed by Joe. It’s enough to make him shudder.

“Come on. Under the covers.” He shakes it off and tucks Fred into bed.

“You knew me when I was a baby,” Fred says, turning onto his side as Alec pulls his blanket up to his shoulders. “Right?”

Alec nods slowly. “You were older than Aila though.”

“How old?”

“…Bit over a year, I’d say.” He hates that he is even slightly uncertain about this. “You could already walk, and talk a bit too.”

“Did you ever take care of me then?” Fred asks, then yawns.

“Not ‘til you were a bit older than _that_. You were closer to two then. Your mum had you with her lots when we were workin’ together on a case,” Alec answers. “She didn’t sleep much then, your mum. Sometimes I’d put you in your buggy and take you on a walk if she started to doze off. So we wouldn’t wake her.”

“Was I a good baby or a naughty baby?”

Alec smiles, rubbing his back. “A very good baby. Quite mild-mannered in fact. You let us get lots of important work done. I’d never been very good with babies, you know, ‘cept for Daiz. Didn’t get along with ‘em. But you, you were somethin’ else. Hard not to be impressed by how well-behaved you were. Hard to resist that little face of yours as well.”

Fred grins. “I had a little face?”

“Aye you did. Little face, big eyes. Like your sister,” he tells him. “And you were a cuddly thing. I wasn’t very good at it at first but --- I came to like it. Only I didn’t want your mum to know.”

Fred snuggles up with Rhino. “How come?”

“She’d have never let me hear the end of it,” Alec replies with a chuckle. “She was always after me, then. Never got a moment’s peace from her.”

“And you never will again,” Fred says, rubbing his eyes.

Alec laughs out loud at this, then leans down and kisses the boy’s head. “Get some sleep, lad.”

Fred yawns again, his eyes closing. “Love you.”

“Love you too, my boy.”

Alec switches off the light and closes the door quietly behind him as he steps into the hall. From the next room over, a faint light streams into the hallway and the door is slightly ajar. He steps into the Aila’s room, where Ellie is in the rocking chair nursing.

“Oh good, she’s eatin’.”

“Mm-hmm.” Ellie’s eyes are closed, but Aila’s are wide open, still glistening from her earlier tears. “Fred all right?”

“He’s down,” Alec replies, leaning against the doorframe as he watches them. “Did he have an attachment phase? He’d very much like to know.”

Ellie opens her eyes and just looks at him for a moment. “Not with me. Did with Joe, though. At about six months or so.”

“Sorry.” He glances down at the floor.

“Had another one with me later on. Shortly after you left Broadchurch actually. For about two months. His doctor was concerned and they nearly sent him to a child therapist, but at two…it was hard. And probably futile, honestly. We all knew _why_ it was happening. Just didn’t know how to get it to stop. Eventually just did it on its own.”

His expression is mildly anguished. “I didn’t know that.”

“Well. No.”

There’s quiet between them both for a moment, then she nods at him. “Go shower. You smell of sex and lasagna, I just got a whiff of it from _here_.”

His eyebrows furrow grumpily. “Maybe that’s _you_.”

“Oh please, I smell like breast milk and baby now. Go shower.”

Fifteen minutes later, Ellie enters the bedroom with Aila just as Alec enters it from the ensuite in boxers and a t-shirt.

“She didn’t fall asleep nursin’?”

“Nope. Wide awake.”

She hands Aila to him. “Going to rinse off then change.” She slips into the ensuite.

He cradles her in his arms, walking around the room with her, though she only looks up at him and takes in nothing else.

“What’re we goin’ to do with you, my wee lass? Hmm? Much as we’d _like_ to, Mummy and Daddy can’t be with you _all_ the time,” he tells her. “And Molly will go mad if you behave this way on Monday. Mummy will be gone full-time now too. It’s only goin’ to get harder. So you’re goin’ to have to be stronger, love. Be strong and have faith, yeah? We’ll always come back to you, you understand? Always. Just need to be patient.”

Aila puts her fist in her mouth and sucks on it, but never takes her eyes off him.

“You are _from the strong place_ , darlin’. That’s what your name means, you know. You are from the strong place and therefore you are strong. All right?” Aila blinks at him. “All right then, good. We understand each other.”

Ellie sweeps back in wrapped in a towel. “Can already feel a bruise forming on the back of my thigh from when you slammed me into the sink.”

He looks up and raises an eyebrow at her. “Weren’t complainin’ _then_.”

“Take off her onesie, will you?” She drops her towel and pulls on a pair of knickers while Alec lays Aila down on the bed. “She needs to be our little kangaroo baby again tonight.”

Ellie pulls back the covers and gets into back, clad in only her knickers. Alec follows and places the baby, in only her nappy, on her chest. He grabs one of her baby blankets, draped atop the bassinette that still resides in the corner of their bedroom, and covers her with it. Then he gets into bed on his side.

“My good girl,” Ellie whispers, kissing the top of her head.

The baby shudders suddenly and lets out a frightful noise. Then does it again.

“Oh, bollocks. She’s got the bloody hiccups now.”

She looks over at Alec and he can’t help but laugh. He places a hand on the baby’s back.

“All that cryin’….”

“And then she ate too quickly.”

They both let out a heavy sigh. And Aila hiccups again.

“Poor, sweet little darling.”

Aila seems to be in a daze, staring off, her fingers back in her mouth. She hiccups again, but seems unfazed by it. The skin to skin contact with her mother has relieved her of all her discontentment. Alec pats her back, then kisses Ellie’s bare shoulder, curling up to her.

Hiccup.

With her father’s face just an inch from her own, Aila suddenly smiles. Though she does not remove her fingers from her mouth.

“Ah, look at that,” Alec says with a grin. Ellie looks down to see it. “Resilient, our girl is.”

Ellie reaches over and switches off her beside lamp. “Looks like we’ll be putting off our sexy lingerie night.”

“Eh, twice in one day not so bad for two busy workin’ parents,” Alec replies. “We’re not as young and hip as we used to be.”

“A year ago, you mean?”

“Aye, we were different people then…footloose and baby-free as they say.”

“No one says that.”

Hiccup.

“God, she’s tragic,” Ellie says, pressing her lips to Aila’s feathery dark hair.

“And I’ve never loved anythin’ more.” He kisses the baby’s chubby cheek as she chews on her own hand with her gums. “Besides Fred. And Tom. And Daisy.” She smiles down at him. “And you. Of course.”

Ellie’s eyes are shining as she looks at him. “Marry me.”

He kisses her shoulder again, then switches off his own bedside lamp. “As often as you like. Once a day, if you fancy.”

“Good.” Holding the baby to her, she slides down until she’s lying on her back, and yawns. “Once a day. You, me, _I do_.”

He curls back up to them. “You’ve got yourself a date. Thousands of dates.”

She smiles sleepily and touches her head to his as she closes her eyes. “Thousands and thousands of dates.”

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will post playlist link next time.

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but please feel free to find me on Tumblr -- @bitboozy. Ask questions, yell at me, tell me to bugger off and give up the ghost, whatever suits you!
> 
> Also, would anyone be interested in me sharing my Alec/Ellie playlist on Spotify? LMK!


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